I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Elaina! How encouraging your comment is, and your first comment – nothing like breaking the ice I just wanted to say it is very nice meeting you (I am Brianne, hi!) and I m excited to read more about your thoughts & comments

I grew up just a few miles from the old compassion headquarters in Chicago. My mother who also grew up in Chicago has told me stories about when Rev. Swanson visited her church in the 1950’s. She was just a teenager at the time….

God changes the world by using large numbers of regular people doing a little. Like my grandparents regular people…. Sometimes I wonder if my sponsorship really matters but as a part of a larger group of people we can have an effect on a developing country just like the previous generation did for Korea!

After ww2 we did not send people to Japan and today they are rich but poor spiritually. Only about ½% of Japanese are Christians. When a lot of average people do nothing, nothing happens.

I too enjoyed the video and learning new things I did not know about Compassion. As I was watching I was thinking…”What will the plane engines tell me on the way to the Philippines!!!” I will have a good 11-17 hours to listen!!! hahaha!!! One of the boys I sponsor there is named Angelo and he mentioned in one of his letters that he wants to be a basketball player so I told him I would dunk a basketball for him with 2 hands when I visit in June. The amazing thing to me is I knew I may not be able to visit and even if I was how was I going to be able to dunk a basketball with 2 hands!!! What a mess I thought I got myself into!!! But now a few months later the trip is paid for (thank God for my month as a taxi driver!!! $4k in less than a month praise the Lord!!!) and I can hang on the rim with one hand!!! (need about 1 more foot to dunk with 2 hands) So when the plane engines are taunting me saying “Can you dunk? Can you dunk? vrrmmm vrrmmm Can you dunk? Can you dunk? vrrmm vrrmm I hope to say “Yes I can, yes I can.. woo woo woo with 2 HANDS!!! I am also excited for the SW Regional Advocates conference I am signed up for April 17-19!!! I will get to meet some of you finally in the flesh and blood!!! 😉

P.S. I wanted to learn “Awesome God” by Rich Mullins in Tagalog or any dialect for that matter for when I go over does anyone have a clue??? b/c I do not!!!

Hi Mike I hope you have a good trip to the Philippines. I went on a trip to the Philippines a few years ago and it was great. The people are amazing.

Depending on the age of your child he might only speak a local language. In school they learn Tagalog and English (unless he is from the Manila area). If your child is older he should speak some English. On my trip I had one of my sponsored children teach me some of the language…so you might want to have them teach it to you in the local language his speaks. Many nationals speak good English.

Most Filipino’s are only about 5 feet tall…give or take a few inches so that fact that you can touch the rim on the basketball court will be vary impressive to them.

FYI – if you’re single…one of the single men in our group had some issues with women coming up to him on the street and asking him to marry them.

Thank you for the heads up!!! The boys I sponsor are 7,8,9 I believe. They are all from the South. One lives in Davao in the Sasa Hills, one lives 83km South of Dipolog and one lives 234km East of Zamboanga. Since I am so close to almost dunking I am going to try and give it a good final push these last few months to get that dunk with 2 hands. I don’t want to arrive empty handed so to speak!!! hahaha 😉 Nonetheless I am very thankful I am able to visit and hope to take tons of pictures of everything we do and some videos if I can get my hands on a video camera. This may be my last trip for a few years. Thanks again for the advice!!! I thought maybe if I say “YES!!!” to all the potential marriage proposals with a HUMONGOUS smile on my face maybe that could provide me with A WAY OF ESCAPE!!! Or maybe I should just put in a few extra running sessions with my triathlon training!!! This trip will be nearly twice as long as my Nicaragua trip last year b/c that Sponsor Tour was only 7 days and a group of us missed the first day b/c of a plane delay. So I am very excited in all that we will get to experience in the 12 or so days of this trip!!! Thanks for all your work with Compassion Dwight!!!

I Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for YOU!!!”

I am 19 years old stationed in South Korea with the Army right now. I’ve been to Seoul many times to the huge skyscrapers and malls. I never imagined. I sponser a 18-year-old girl in Ethiopia through Compassion, and I sponser a 9-year-old girl here in a Korea from an orphanage (not through compassion obviously). I do see the change in christianity from then til now. It is a christian based orphanage called The House that Develops Dreams. It really makes me appreciate this country and feel good about myself protecting this country.